BOYS’ SOCCER: Season comes to end for FMCHS

FMCHS keeper Nate Dammerich makes a save late in the first half against Belleville Althoff on Saturday.

FMCHS keeper Nate Dammerich makes a save late in the first half against Belleville Althoff on Saturday.

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Matt Kamp/Intelligencer

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Matt Kamp/Intelligencer

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FMCHS keeper Nate Dammerich makes a save late in the first half against Belleville Althoff on Saturday.

FMCHS keeper Nate Dammerich makes a save late in the first half against Belleville Althoff on Saturday.

Photo:

Matt Kamp/Intelligencer

BOYS’ SOCCER: Season comes to end for FMCHS

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BELLEVILLE – After weathering the storm in the first half, the upset-minded Father McGivney Griffins couldn’t survive the second half against the Belleville Althoff Crusaders.

The Griffins, who went against wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour in the first half, surrendered two second-half goals and lost 2-1 to the host Crusaders in the Class 1A Belleville Althoff Sectional championship game.

“We had a little bit of adversity going into this game as the underdogs. I’m extremely proud of the guys. We played so hard against a great team. I couldn’t be happier,” said FMCHS defender DJ Villhard, who scored his team’s lone goal in the 78th minute.

The Griffins end the season at 16-8, setting a single-season program record for wins.

Father McGivney was making its first appearance in the sectional after winning the program’s first-ever regional championship in its fourth varsity season.

“Today shows a lot about the character of this team. The boys kept fighting,” FMCHS coach Tim Vance said. “We have come a long way in the last four years. We have had our ups and downs and I think we are only going up.”

The Crusaders, now 16-4-3, advance to play the Quincy Notre Dame Raiders (16-5-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Raymond Lincolnwood Super-Sectional after winning their first sectional championship since 2005.

“The boys didn’t play their best game of the year but they played well. Credit to Father McGivney for their effort. The postseason is about surviving and moving on,” said Althoff coach Skip Birdsong, who won his 100th career game.

It was a frustrating first half for the Crusaders, who had an 11-1 advantage in shots but couldn’t score with the wind at their backs.

The Griffins packed the box defensively and made things difficult, as the Crusaders didn’t get many high-scoring opportunities.

“It was really tough. We wanted the win in the first half so we could put it on them, but we didn’t win the flip. We had to adapt to it. Being able to hold to them to 0-0 at halftime was exactly what we wanted to do,” Villhard said.

Althoff, though, finally broke through in the 48th minute on a free kick.

Alex Debourge scored his 12th of the season on a scramble in front after a free kick was served into the box. Mason Wagner had the assist.

“You keep pressing and keep pressing and you want that one,” Birdsong said of the goal, which came on the team’s 14th shot.

Vance was upset with the initial foul call that led to the free kick and goal.

“We were at the bad end of an unfortunate call, but we still had to make the play on the free kick. (The foul) looked like a two-hand push from the other team,” Vance said. “It was some extra adversity for the day.

“The longer we held them at zero, the more doubt they were going to have and the more confidence we were going to get.”

The Crusaders went up 2-0 after a tremendous individual effort by Mitchell Kidd, who split through the FMCHS defense and rifled a left-footed shot on goal. A rebound bounced right back to him and he didn’t miss on his second chance, burying his team-leading 27th goal in the 74th minute.

The Griffins cut the deficit in half on Villhard’s second goal in as many games. The FMCHS senior ripped a shot from 35 yards out into the upper corner with 2:47 to play.

“That might have been the goal of the year,” Vance said.

It was too little, too late for Father McGivney though.

“There were still three minutes to go, and I thought DJ was going to get in again with 30 seconds to go,” Vance said.

Althoff outshot FMCHS 20-5 and took six of the game’s seven corner kicks.

“We are disappointed we lost, but not with how we played,” Villhard said. “We lost to a good team.”